Tuesday. Monday Happy Mail!

You know as I get mail in the morning and am rushing about to get ready to leave I have no time to open it. So have to wait like 7 hours or so before I can open my mail.
'Work' today was a mix. I had to call up some people to inform them some of the courses next week have been changed due to the upcoming change in weather. (Who sent us rain....I see you hiding in the back!) I'm not a huge fan of the sun, but it would have been nice to be able to do the gardening sessions. Then was making some photocopies and sorting out some paperwork, a few more phone calls then was time to leave.

So I opened my mail and it was a prize from a giveaway I had been entered into over on Mommy's Nap Time

The cutest ever needle book..well envelope! Yay for giveaways!

I got on with some more sewing and finished the first part of my secret project. They went together quicker than expected. Just 2 evenings and 20 sewn up!

Then decided I'd use up my solid prints for part 2,  so I pulled those all out and for the time being they are sitting next to Jano all ready to be cut into. I wish I had some neutral tones to add, but these brighter solids will have to do.

I also made some progress on the GIVEAWAY prizes.....only they'll be a surprise so no pictures for you! =P 

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Another Sneak peak.....

Today was another quiet work day. Next week is set to be busy as the children's summer activities are running for two weeks! Cooking and gardening with 5-11 year olds (the 5-7 won;t be doing the cooking sessions) Plus I was informed another one with a different tutor will be running in the same week so a lot of children will be in the building! Fun times ahead!

Before leaving out this morning I got two parcels in the mail!

I waited till I got back home to open them. Parcel one is from the super cool Emily of Strawberry patch, we have swapped fabrics so many times in the past! She sent me two awesome orange FQ's and a bunch of fun scraps.

In the second parcel was my fabric must haves!!

9 of the gorgeous echo prints. Bought from RockpaperscissorsNJ on Etsy (sorry I cant upload the link the site is down)

Guess who made a return to my sewing THIS GUY \/

He helped in the making of this next sneak peak into my new project!

I have a few more sets to sew up then the tops at least will be complete. I'm undecided whether to use print or solid backing.....

  

Remember you still have till Friday to enter my GIVEAWAY

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Reverse, Reverse....

Yup that's what my driving lesson was like! Today was bay parking. I went wide on one attempt and couldn't quite manage to straighten out my wheels to make things better. My driving is slowly improving, though roundabouts still freak me out. So many cars! I'm not huge on stop lights either, there is some apparent line where you're supposed to stop, I never see this line and end up stopping way before it so my instructor informed me. I'm no good with T junctions either, again there are many stop lights and you have to move out into a box to go in a certain direction. I still have to start practicing for my theory test. I'll have to fish out the book and CD.....

Sewing wise I sorted out some colour schemes for my wedges, you'll have to wait and see how they turn out =P

I'd also like to thank everyone who commented on my post yesterday. You were all a great help and gave me a lot of insight on what sizes to be making my quilts in the future. 

For those looking for my giveaway you still have 5 days to enter, so hop on over and good luck!

Siya'll tomorrow =D

A little help please......

So I've been doing a lot of blog reading in the past few months. Seeing various handmade items. The one that has baffled me the most is quilts.
When I read up the quilt stats and what the person intends to use it for that's when I get confused. As I haven't made many I have no idea on what the quilt sizes should be. I see some making baby quilts which range anywhere from 30"-60" which to me seems a little large for a baby, unless its a size for them to grow up into?
Square quilts also seem strange to me as most beds and such are rectangles. So two different inch sizes seem better to me.
Another one that baffles my mind are mini quilts/wall hangings. I imagine a mini quilt being something like 12" - possibly 16 at the largest. So when I read that someone has made it 18 - 30" to me that size range seems large to be putting up on a wall. Even when I was reading about doll quilts they too seemed large and I wondered how big is the doll?!

I'm sure the UK and USA metric/imperial sizing besides clothing works out the same right? or am I wrong as in the USA you use yards were we have metres....

So If any of you out there could give me some sizes what you consider to fall into the categories of mini quilts, baby quilts, lap quilts and the bed size quilts that would be really helpful.

So today I went to my besties birthday party...(though not official till the 30th)...the usual suspects were there. Which is funny as most seem to forget that I see them like every year at her party! Her Father even went as far as to ask if I was married yet. Like yeah right! Me? Married? As if!!
We ate, chatted, laughed it was a fun event as always!

In sewing news. I am going on an official as from today going on a fabric ban! I have been buying too much lately, even if it was to better my stash. My money is going down and I can no longer afford those purchases. I may even take down my swaps for a while until I can save up a bit more money.
Come this August/September I'll be sorting out my sewing things/fabric and the stock I have been making up, to open my own Etsy shop! I just have to take pictures and put together a banner, think of a name and sort pricing/shipping costs then it'll be underway.

I will leave you with some further sneaks to my next project.

Siya'll tomorrow!

200th post and 101 followers Giveaway!!

Today was a really mixed day! I went to my 2 week appointment thing only to miss the bus...then realised I forgot my papers so had to rush back home and get them and just about caught the next bus. I still arrived on time, but the people kept me waiting half an hour! I was not amused when the  Lady tried to act like it was my fault, if they don't tell you correctly where you should go then how is that m fault. I nodded silently when she spoke to me not wanting to vent my anger at her.
I left and went to buy a few things in town. On the bus ride to 'work' I fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop by like 3 stops!! I had to quickly jump of the bus and wait for the bus in the other direction to go back. I was sure to stay awake then.
At 'work' I was asked to go to the shops and buy a thank you card....I hate card shopping...to much choice and never the card you really want. I picked one and they loved it so job done! I then had to cut 1000 leaflets (luckily there was a guillotine) then photocopy another 1000....by that time is was closing so only 852 were done....on Monday I'll make up the rest....then cut those too.....

Back home I lazed watching TV then made dinner. Which was lasagna...I know I don't often mention food, but this turned out like it looks on the picture on the jar. Today was a Dolmio day!

Plus took a picture of my next project. Sneak peak!

Now about that Giveaway!


I'm still in shock! I've only actually been blogging since THIS February! I think I've written on this blog almost everyday. To me it's more like an interactive journal, with the cool addition of pictures and the links to various pages.
I love that I can look over the posts I've written in the past and see what I was up to months later. My blogging style has changed after reading some advice guides. I'll be looking into making my blog even better with a cool banner...once I figure out how I want it to look that is.....

So a huge thank you to all of you who have been kind enough to either be following my blog and those that read often and leave comments.
I'm getting back to using Jano in addition to all the hand sewing I've been doing lately. So I will whip up some mystery items for 3 lucky followers.
All you need to do is leave me a comment with what you love and hate about summer! It's really that simple. The giveaway will be open until the 3rd August, midnight GMT time. The winner will be announced on the 4th. All entries are welcome (just make sure you're not a no-reply blogger, please leave your email if you are) 

We'll I'm off to enjoy a doughnut and a soya yogurt.
Be sure to check out this page to find some fun swaps that are going on and are not too late for you to join!!

Siya'll tomorrow!! =D

I'm too tired......ask me later.......

OK so now is slightly later...by mere minutes lol! I say this a lot when the Giants ask me something it's always so funny....They wait seconds then ask me again, those crazy boys....(though due to their ages they can be classed as men) The younger giant will be 18 this year!! He's growing up so fast...Literally! Poor boy can barely fit through doorways (he is 6ft something possibly 7 or 8). Father suggests we put him outside. I suggested we get him a tent at least!

My morning at 'work' was rather busy! YAY! I had to write up some letters and email them. Then print some off to post for the people on the list that did not provide email addresses. Then I had to call another set of people to remind them of a catch-up session for this Friday...that was funny one guy kept me on the phone for a good few minutes not grasping what I was trying to tell him! I had a trip to the post office. Outside was sooo hot. Luckily I bought a bottle of ice water with me, and some snacks. (dried fruit)

Back home I took some pictures of the fabric that came in the post this morning courtesy of Flickr and some quick snaps of my hexies after they were ironed..yes ironed it had to be done! As well as the smaller hexies and my diamonds.... Then my camera battery died...

 My hexie sizes are 2" and 1 3/4" The diamonds are 2". All cut from my own paper, that was fun..I'll have to search out my tutorial and add it to the page.

Then inbetween book reading I continued on with the long overdue quilting on the last charm quilt!

I have the rest of the row to complete...then I can bind it and the quilt will finally be finished and can join it's friends.

I'm really hoping tomorrow cools down! This heat is killing me. At least me nose was better behaved today.

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Drip.....Drip...Drip

For best part of the day my nose has been like this

It has been getting on my nerves! Hay fever is really a pain in the nose! 

So at 'work' I was making up some spreadsheets which although isn't actually all that hard, once you click a few of the helpful buttons to find out what they do. 

The hardest part was going through all the folders to actually find the one I was looking for! I had to click at least 5 different folders sometimes more just to find the one that had the document I needed to use! Talk about your labyrinth.

Back home it was baking!!! Downstairs was cool, upstairs was much like a sauna! I feebly managed to finish off the rest of my hexies, but couldn't bring myself to cut or iron them. 

Oh and in the mail this morning I got some fabric sent to me thanks to my Swaps on Flickr. Some charms and a F8 of an echo print I'm collecting!!!!! Happy Dance. I also ordered some more from TheTinThimble

It was too hot to do more sewing so I read a few more chapters of my book. Everyone else in the house seemed to be sleeping....

Siya'll tomorrow =D

Christmas Fabric Anyone?

No really I have yards to spare! I'm not even kidding. Father really hit the jackpot when he picked up the bag at the market
Here are a few pics the rest can be found here if you're interested in any prints please Flickr mail me.

Then I got an unexpected parcel this morning. Which turned out to be from Amy courtesy of the Modernista Swap. I love it! When I start using Jano again this will really come in handy..Just got to decide what to use the bag for...

At the placement I was working on designing up some timetables and some forms. I'm hoping they might let me go back a few days a week when I'm done to design posters and such for them.

When I got back home...well I was taking pictures of all that fabric...then I continued basting my hexies

I still have a few more colours to go, then I'll be done and I can work out some ideas on what to actually use them for.....The Jano and I shall be reunited!!

Well I think I'll be off to order some of that gorgeous Madrona Road Fabric as well as the bundle I've had my eye one too, It has just the colours I need....

Siya'll tomorrow. =D

That really lazy day.....

It's Sunday so we wake up late, eat brunch then chill out for the rest of the day.

Father got me another load of fabrics. Which I'll take pictures of. Just a not to say it's Christmas themed...so for anyone out there making Christmas items I'll have fabric to swap....there are meters/yards of it!! (not all the same print. Though there are yards of green/red fabric!!)

So on my lazy day. I watched the TV!! Threw some clothes into the scary washing machine. Honestly if you weren't used to it you'd think it was breaking down or about to explode! Plus I'm pretty sure its pushed itself even further back into the space it sits in.

I watched a movie that was on TV Disney Channels, 'Let It Shine'  definitely worth the watch if you're into musicals..mind you most of you in in America so it's probably and old movie by now!

Then I got my hexies from yesterday all cut and ironed

yes this picture is recycled i forgot to take a pic after ironing...being lazy remember...

Then I made a slow start on the larger ones

I've done more than just those 2 like 3 of these fit on the thread I cut...I must say larger hexies are trickier to baste!

I even chilled out after dinner watching TV with Mother and the Older Giant....I had to go investigate what happened to the Younger Giant....he was napping....or was until I suggested I'd tickle him. Crazy boy! Father is down/up in London.
So a nice quiet day. On a plus note I found some Echo Fabrics on Etsy at RockPaperScissorsNJ Happy dance! You wouldn't believe the amount of shops I looked through to find them! I still need to acquire the rest....

Well I'm back to 'work' tomorrow

Siya'll then =D

I be's Cheraldine-Return of the JANO.....

Sorry to get all Star Wars there but it was necessary. I gave Jano a good dusting off, cleaned out the bobbin area (remind me I need to get a bulb...) plugged in the plug and flipped the switch. He sewed like a beaut!

So here is what I made.
Item 1 is the 2nd item for the Modernista Swap a scrappy paper pieced pincushion. I'll take a pic of the back before I send it.

Then Jano sewed in the pages for the RATZ Swap needle book. I added in a few pins from my collection for my partner.

Then Jano was put back to sleep as I pulled out the needle and thread to continue with some basting on those hexies. I just have the large ones to baste now!

The needle was straight....then after time it got a curve to it....

I'm loving these. The colours are so fun to work with! I have my eye on the Quilt dad bundle over at Pink Castle Fabrics I love the prints and they are just the colours I need!

Well I have one lot of basting to do then piecing here I come!

Siya'll tomorrow =D

How I love EPP

I'm sure Jano must hate me...or wonder why he has been made redundant to a bent needle and yards of thread. Mind you it has been totally worth it. All the EPP has been helping to restore my mojo, which I lost last month and since then haven't even touched Jano. I'll need him for the next part of my swap items though!

The embroidered hoop is almost finished. Here's a pic of the front.

I love rainbow themes! I've since glued some linen to the back with a hand written message for my partner., That's drying so I'll show it to you once she gets it. Just got to make the smaller item...which will require Jano's help- I can feel his excitement.

Then I got on with more basting of my diamond and hexies

Its such fun to press them flat. I chain baste them all first then cut and press. I more or less get 4 or 5 hexies on each length of thread I cut. The diamonds I could get about 6 or 7.

Then I opened my parcel from yesterday?....

Now to find some fun embroidery patterns or maybe I'll use some fabric with an iconic print to embroider...some Summersville perhaps....

Ah the possibilities


Linking up tonight with 

Siya'll tomorrow =D